About the difference between the final official money list vs the list after Kapalua, there won’t be any difference for anyone above 80. All the events after Kapalua were top 50 (or less) plus sponsor exemptions, and the rule seems to be that money earned by sponsor exemptions in limited-field events only counts as unofficial money.

Next year, with the tour championship being a full-field event, it should be simpler. Phew!

In the past, the LPGA would announce some number of exempt cards to be available at Q-school, and exactly that many players would therefore move from “non-exempt” to “exempt.”

There’s no “exempt” anymore—instead we have various “categories.” To follow a similar logic, the implicit agreement would be that the announced number of players would get to move from lower categories up to category 11. Well, the “announced” number in this case was 20. “20 players will get their cards,” is roughly the way newspaper articles and press releases read.

Since Mayorkas and Fankhauser already “had their cards,” which seems to be roughly defined as already being in category 11, the LPGA decided to lean toward the side of generosity, following the spirit of the law if not the letter. I don’t think they’re worried that players in categories 12 and below will file lawsuits!

The LPGA is more interested in who was overall #138, the last player in at a typical LPGA event. Would rather it be #22 at Q school than #102 on the money list I guess.

Still not out of the question, but doubtful, Priority 15 101-125 players don’t get bumped up to Priority 11 81-100 on the money list side. Still not sure what they do with Davies, Francella, Baena Lincicome, Rankin and Granada spots in the 81-100.